The story behind the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal

The Rio Grande Valley Business Journal seems almost a natural occurrence growing out of two distinctly different careers coming together at a time when the border has become the economic engine of Texas, and much of the nation. 

The need, and, indeed, the demand for a publication focusing on business and Valley economics has existed for years. 

Which is why the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal was launched. The CEO, founder, and publisher of this journal, Ramiro Garza Jr., is the outgoing mayor of the city of Edinburg, a native of Port Isabel, and a long-time economic development leader. Before getting elected mayor, Ramiro served Edinburg as city manager and Executive Director of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation. Under his leadership, Edinburg was recognized as an All-America City in 2024.

Ramiro’s career in economic development for his hometown of Port Isabel and the city of Edinburg has spanned twenty-five years of expertise focused on business analyses and advice, planning, management, finance, budgeting, and personnel, which has led to job creation and new business growth for his community. 

Married and a father of two, Ramiro confronted a health issue with cancer, which prompted him, after successful treatment, to change course with his career. He decided not to seek reelection as mayor and, instead, to build a business he had been envisioning for several years.

His co-founder and COO, James Moore, began his Texas broadcast journalism career at an AM radio station in McAllen in the Valley during the mid-70s, and after two years, moved upriver to Laredo and began working in television news, a decision which, oddly enough, kept him returning to the Valley. 

Jim and Ramiro met about fifteen years ago during an immigration crisis of unaccompanied minors arriving in Texas from Central America. Jim had been retained as a crisis communications consultant to help manage the national media arriving to cover the story. 

The two of them talked about how the Valley had been booming and the dramatic changes that were a part of local innovation and proximity to Mexico. Both reached the conclusion a business news publication had great potential since the multi-national corporations, entrepreneurs, and Mexican businesses were all struggling for reliable information and data to help guide business decisions. Ramiro’s work and Jim’s consulting business were both demanding, and Covid arrived, but those delays did not kill the idea.

Jim’s background complemented Ramiro’s and made them natural business partners. His experience included work as a TV news correspondent and on-air political analyst for MSNBC, a New York Times bestselling author, and a startup business consultant in the Austin tech economy. 

Before launching his own startup in the video industry, Jim had consulted and led strategies, marketing, and messaging for numerous tech growth companies. He had also worked as an executive for a global public relations company, managing several crises on the national and international level. 

Jim’s journalism earned him numerous honors that included an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the National Media Award for Economic Understanding from the Amos Tuck School of Economics at Dartmouth College, the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio and Television News Directors Association, Texas Headliners’ Individual Broadcast Achievement Award, and he was frequently named best TV journalist in Texas by the Houston Press Club, Associated Press, and United Press International. He has authored nine books on topics ranging from presidential politics to medicine, technology, and business strategies. 

Ramiro’s affection and enthusiasm for the Valley is shared by Jim. They both believe the region, which includes around three million people on both sides of the border, has been wildly underserved on the topic of business journalism. The Rio Grande Valley Business Journal will fill that void at a time of great economic opportunity and complexity. 

Mexico, which is the largest trading partner of the U.S., has an impact of $935 billion annually on the American economy through the sale of goods and services, according to Department of Commerce figures. Separately, $272.3 billion of that amount lands in Texas. Border crossings in the four counties of the Rio Grande Valley account for $67 billion of trade with Mexico.

Ramiro and Jim both decided years ago that it was unacceptable that the Valley had no “publication of record” to report on business in the region and to provide current and historic data on growth. Entrepreneurs, venture capital, multi-national corporations, commercial and residential real estate developers, customs brokers, and logistics shippers have been drawn to the Valley along with an increasing tourist economy attracted by beaches and the subtropical climate. The executives of SpaceX made a similar decision and moved their launch facilities to the coast near Brownsville, and have helped to turn the border city into what an economics report describes as the “second best location in the U.S. to manufacture products.”